Piece of Heart
by Vulpixi Misa
Summary: ..Phantom Hourglass.. ..Short Story.. How was Link always able to change ship parts so easily? I mean, it's not like it was his ship.


I didn't really want to put this here, but I needed to see more Phantom Hourglass fics here. There might be some little spoiler in here, it depends on how far you are into the game. I'm not sure when this takes place, after the third dungeon, I guess.

Oh, uh, I kinda call Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass Link "WinLi" , so, get used to it.

* * *

Linebeck slammed down the empty mug he had just finished up. The kid had more errands to run in the Ocean King Temple, so he had time to kill. He went to the Mercay Tavern that he had often visited, even before the kid came up. Downing a mug of the usual (milk, duh) he exits and heads to the Mercay port.

Exploring the seas with the little adventure monkey was a great experience but on the way there were, of course, obstacles. From pirates to sea octoroks to gyorgs, sea traps and those flying watchamacallits, the S.S. Linebeck went through more than it had to. The boat was old and not very fit for battle, but as a sailor, this boat was Linebeck's life. (One of the reasons it was named after himself.) So after docking on any island, Linebeck would make it his job to repair the ship.

Making his way to the pier, he was shocked to find the familiar hull of the S.S. Linebeck missing. The port was currently being occupied by another ship, and the Mercay port could only hold one ship.

Linebeck tried not to panic. It didn't work too well. Rushing over to the shipyard, he knocked over Winli, who had just emerged from the entrance.

"Kid, kid! The S.S. Linebeck! It's missing! Gone!" He picked up the fallen boy and started shaking the boy in a violent manner.

"Hey! Stop that! Put Winli down!" Ciela, the Spirit of Courage, flew out from Winli's hat and threw herself against the sailor man's temple.

"Quiet glitters, this is an emergency!" Linebeck swatted the fairy away, dropping the very confused hero to the ground. "Someone took the S.S. Linebeck!"

Winli slowly managed to pick himself off the floor and took another moment to regain his senses. He felt two hands clamp down on his shoulders to steady him. Blinking his vision back to normal, he's greeted with a distressed Linebeck.

"Linebeck, the boat is right there." The child pointed to the unfamiliar ship that should have been the S.S. Linebeck.

"Are you blind kid? That's not the S.S. Linebeck."

"Yes it is! I just changed some parts."

A skeptical Linebeck took his gaze away from the monkey boy to the foreign ship. Looking at it again, the ship did have the same structure as his original boat. He placed his hand on the bright hull of the alien ship. Slowly, his fingers curl into a fist as he swiftly turned around.

Grabbing the neck of Winli's shirt, he angrily throttles the poor boy. "What did you think you were doing with my ship?! Who gave you permission to change the parts?!"

"Linebeck, you get your hands off Winli and let him explain!" Ciela yelled, bouncing herself off his head.

"Fine!" He dropped the boy. "Explain yourself kid."

Still laying on the ground, Winli decided to do his explaining on lower levels, for fear of being dropped again. "The guy in the shipyard told me that changing ship parts would raise its stamina, and it would get higher if it were the same set..."

"And you thought it would be okay to mess with my ship without asking me?"

Winli lowered his head. "Sorry, I really should have asked first..."

"You're so lucky I'm such a nice guy. If you weren't leading me to treasure, I would have already kicked you off my crew. Then you can go find some other boat to mess with."

"Sorry... I just... just thought that if the ship was more capable of withstanding attacks, you wouldn't have to work so hard to repair it..." He looked away, his blond bangs hiding his eyes.

Linebeck stared at the boy. He scratched his head awkwardly, feeling like a total jerk for yelling at the kid. Instead of apologizing, he crossed his arms and pretended to look annoyed.

"Fine, but if you're going to rearrange my ship, at least make it look presentable. I mean, look at it, chain rails do not match with insect wheels."

He placed a hand on Winli's head and ruffled his hair. "Come on kid, we've got treasure to find."

* * *

Buah, I can't write good conclusions. IP Well, obviously inspired by the game, I'm always wondering how Linebeck doesn't mind the changes to the ship. At the end of the game, his ship is barely recognizable. (And it sucks because it's part of the cut scene too) XP 

I hope I got everyone's characters in order. Oh, don't ask why Linebeck went to get milk before fixing his boat if he loved it so much, plot hole. Oh, and WinLi was done with the errands, so he went to mess with the ship.

My beta-sis-Hasuko nee-chan tells me my tenses are off, I'm too lazy to fix them.


End file.
